Bromo eruption disrupts local flights

The Jakarta Post

The Jakarta Post

Jakarta |
Thu, December 31, 2015 | 07:19 pm

White ash clouds rise from the crater of Mount Bromo in Probolinggo, East Java, early this month. Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) has temporarily banned tourists from visiting Mt. Bromo as the volcano's warning status level has been raised to Alert 3. (Antara/Umarul Faruq) (TNBTS) has temporarily banned tourists from visiting Mt. Bromo as the volcano's warning status level has been raised to Alert 3. (Antara/Umarul Faruq)

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White ash clouds rise from the crater of Mount Bromo in Probolinggo, East Java, early this month. Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) has temporarily banned tourists from visiting Mt. Bromo as the volcano's warning status level has been raised to Alert 3. (Antara/Umarul Faruq)

The spread of volcanic material from Mt. Bromo in East Java has disrupted flights between the East Java capital of Surabaya and Jember, another city in East Java.

'At 7:30 a.m., we received information from authorities at Juanda airport in Surabaya that volcanic material from Mt. Bromo was heading to Notohadinegoro airport in Jember,' said Garuda Indonesia general manager for the Jember area Syamsul Adnan in Jember on Thursday as reported by kompas.com.

Syamsul said that after receiving the information, he told Juanda Airport to issue a notice (Notam).

'After the issuance of the notice, we halted all the flights,' Syamsul said, adding that the volcanic material could endanger the flights.

The status of Mt. Bromo, which is located on the border of the Probolinggo, Pasuruan, Lumajang and Malang regencies in East Java, has been raised from Alert 2 to Alert 3, resulting in the closure of tourist sites earlier this month.

Mt. Bromo has a five-year cycle in eruptions that last for months, said Bromo Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) head Ahmad Subhan recently.

Ahmad said Mt. Bromo's current eruptions had been dominated by tremors and the likelihood of a major earthquake was remote.

Tremors have been occurring for about two months and eruptions are expected to continue. (bbn)